Slippery Rock University Athletics

Highlights  |  Postgame Interview  |  Photo Gallery (more photos will be added)

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The sixth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team wrapped up a perfect regular season with a 50-17 win over Edinboro Saturday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the PSAC West and are 10-0 for just the third time in program history and the third time since 2019. Edinboro, which earned a share of the PSAC West title last fall, drops to 4-6 overall and 2-5 in divisional play.
 
Slippery Rock celebrated its senior interns, athletic training students and players in a pregame ceremony that recognized more than 20 senior and fifth-year players, many of which will have a chance to return next year with the new five-for-five eligibility rules in Division II.
 
"Our senior class is really special and we wanted to be able to recognize them on a day when they aren't worried about a championship, so we moved up Senior Day to this week," said head coach Shawn Lutz. "A lot of the guys in this class have been with us for three or more years and have helped us build this program into what it is. It was great to be able to get a big win for them in front of their families tonight."
 
Slippery Rock overcame a slow offensive start by using a dominant defensive effort in the opening half. The defense limited Edinboro to just one rushing yard and less than 60 total yards of offense over the opening 30 minutes.
 
The offense eventually hit its stride and quickly racked up 21 points in the final 19 minutes of the half to take a 21-0 lead into the break.
 
Edinboro returned the favor by outgaining SRU by 80 yards in the third quarter and scoring 10 unanswered points to cut the lead to 21-10 with 3:11 left in the third, but Slippery Rock slammed the door with a 75-yard touchdown drive on its next possession.
 
The Rock blew the game out of the water with 22 more points in the fourth quarter on the way to the 50-17 win.
 
Slippery Rock outgained Edinboro 540-306 in total offense, including 215-135 in rushing and 325-171 in passing. The Rock did not turn the ball over for the seventh time this season, while the defense came up with one turnover on an interception from Evan Harper.
 
DaOne Owens put together arguably the best game of his career in some of the worst conditions for a passer with wind, rain and frigid temps all game. He completed 25-of-31 passes for 325 yards with four TD while also rushing for 71 yards on nine carries and averaging 7.9 yards per carry.
 
JayJay Jordan broke a tie for the all-time SRU single-season rushing touchdown record and finished with 121 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He now has 24 rushing scores on the year and 27 total touchdowns. He also caught six passes for 52 yards to finish with 173 yards of offense.
 
Telly Palmer caught seven passes for 86 yards and one touchdown and finished the night with 150 all-purpose yards with 64 kick return yards as well. Carson Heckathorn caught three passes for 68 yards and two touchdowns and John Sabo caught two passes for 16 yards and one score, which was a highlight-reel one-handed grab. Hamilton Gates added 62 receiving yards to headline eight different pass catchers.
 
The Rock secondary created trouble for the Edinboro passing game all night with Ben Lane and Owen Suah leading the way. Lane paced the defensive effort with 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack. Suah had a career-high five pass breakups and seven tackles. Brian Young Jr. tallied six tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack and Carmen Metcalfe added five stops and one TFL. Aaron Scales Jr. added four stops, 1.5 tackles for loss and four pass breakups and JuJu Johnson had one sack. The defense combined for 10 pass breakups and three sacks.
 
Edinboro starting QB Nico Marchitelli left the game in the first half with an injury after completing 6-of-11 passes for 61 yards. Bo Swartz, the brother of SRU tight end Lou Swartz, played the rest of the game and went 7-of-20 for 110 yards with one TD and one INT while leading the team in rushing with 51 yards.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift its focus to a rematch with East Stroudsburg in the PSAC Championship game next Saturday at 1 p.m. at SRU. The two teams met back on Sept. 12 at ESU with The Rock coming away with a 59-35 win. Since then, the Warriors have rattled off seven straight wins and knocked off Kutztown on the way to a 9-1 overall record to claim to the PSAC East title.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock improved to 10-0 for the third time since 2019 and just the third time in program history … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 98-25 at SRU … SRU improved to 63-29-7 all-time against Edinboro … The Rock are now 48-6 against the PSAC West since the start of the 2018 season … SRU improved to 100-20 in home games since 2005 and 70-8 at home since 2013 … The Rock improved to 42-1 in its last 43 games that started at 4 p.m. or later … SRU is 52-10 in home night games since installing lights in 2003 … JayJay Jordan broke his tie with LaMonte Coleman (1994) for the SRU single-season rushing TD record and now has 24 rushing scores on the season … Jordan extended his single-season total TD record and now has 27 total TD this year … Jordan moved up to No. 7 on the SRU single-season rushing ledger (1,388 yards) and No. 6 on the SRU career rushing TD list (36) … DaOne Owens became the 11th QB in SRU history to top 4,000 passing yards in a career and is up to No. 10 in career passing (4,076 yards) … Owens is No. 8 in passing TD (39) … SRU did not turn the ball over for the seventh time in 10 games this season … Evan Harper caught his team-leading fourth INT of the year.



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